Chapter 106: The Transhuman Programs... and their problems...
Esmond pushed through and the rubble that came in his way the deeper he went underground.
After a couple minutes of racing deeper into the ruined Imperial Temple, Esmond came across a large number of Alpha Legion Chaos Forces currently taking up defensive measures.
Carter had the drones clean up the corpses that were shot dead by Esmond so far, however it was getting more difficult with the growing danger.
'… Esy… you better hurry up!
2 minutes and those guys will have the damn stone in their possession!' Carter was beginning to sound frantic because the fight wasn't simple.
The numbers ahead of Esmond were going to take more than 2 minutes to clear and even then, Esmond still had to make his way over to where the stone was.
"Fuck it…" Esmond charged up his body with as much internal energy without shattering the ground and channelled it into the weapons within his hand.
Every shot now contained enough energy to create a blast shockwave of around 10 metres, leaving behind a lethal energy wave that would rip apart metal and flesh.
Blasting away the Alpha Legion in his path, Esmond used the cloud of dust to charge through the group and make his way deeper underground until he came upon a clearing where he noticed the eminence of the Maledictum Stone.
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'Take the shot now!!' Carter didn't want Esmond to waste any more time in the area since it was becoming more dangerous with every passing second.
Esmond decided to follow throw as asked and charged up his shot however as the Energy Bullet left the rifle, a rippling sound close to a screaming beast followed the bullet.
The two individuals who seemed to be the closest to the Maledictum Stone felt the change in the air and tried to get into a defensive stance however it was too late.
'RUN FOR YOU LIFE ESY!' Carter noticed the blast that was about to come from the Maledictum Stone was abnormally strong and powerful.
The drones had already returned to the space, leaving Esmond to escape the underground ruins until the Hunting Grounds Generator finally gave him a chance to leave.
Thankfully it wasn't a long wait, as the notification soon popped up.
.
..
…
*Ding*
[For the God-Emperor…]
[Host needs to:
- (Completed) Eliminate a minimum of 20 Alpha Legion Chaos Forces (31/20)
- (Completed) Eliminate a minimum of 35 Orks (39/35)
- (Completed) Destroy Maledictum Stone]
[Reward:
- 1,112,000,000 Credit
- 1,096,000,000 Exp
- Asuryani Spirit Stone – Common Grade
- Transhuman (Adeptus Astartes) Creation Program – Common Grade
o Equipment and Materials will be included]
.
[Evaluation: A+]
[Rewards based off Evaluation:
- 1,003,000,000 Credit
- 987,000,000 Exp
- Transhuman (Adeptus Custodes) Creation Program – Common Grade
o Equipment and Materials will be included
- Ze'Quasa Craftworld – Common Grade]
…
..
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"That… wasn't enjoyable… at all…" Esmond was exhausted and wanted to relax.
He wasn't comfortable with being buried alive under the rubble of the Imperial Ruins that imploded.
Picking himself up, Esmond looked up at Carter who was lounging back in the couch.
"You wanna go see the rewards?" Carter had a bright smile on his face, clearly disregarding all Esmond had just said in-between breaths.
"… yeah…" they both quickly left the Cabin and headed in the direction of the institute first.
They were going to summon the Craftworld, a small synthetic and organic spacecraft that could offer Esmond and the resident's greater superiority in space, but they waited for now.
More importantly the two of them wanted to know about the Transhuman Creation Programs as well as the difference between Adeptus Astartes and Custodes.
The Asuryani Spirit Stone was also an important item that needed to be tested.
Carter had called all of the necessary people to be ready and present in the personal lab of Esmond at the institute as they discussed what new work would be added to their already enormous stack of tasks.
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"… This is just… messed up." Nighmora had travelled down from Thazur and visited the institute on Carter's call.
He'd looked over the two new programs introduced by their Lord shortly after his arrival but all that came to Nighmoras mind after reading over the information was how broken it was.
"They destroy who the original person was… all to provide them with various new organs… both mechanically synthetic but also organic, which allows for the connection with the body in the first place.
How deplorable…" Nighmora found it hard to believe that someone would do such a thing to create the perfect soldier but then again, what they were doing right now wasn't seen as the most humane thing.
"That's what they've known from the beginning…
What we've come to see now is far different to what others might do.
How we treat our creations is far better than anyone else has ever done.
The Lord has given them full rights and recognition.
That is something I am positive would have never been awarded to the clones if they were part of the Xlartanian Empire." Arcia, the Xlartanian scientist didn't want Nighmora to make the false assumption that all people had rights.
It was clear enough to Arcia that the two Transhuman programs were created for warfare as they would lead the front of the Empire while battling in deep space.
"Look here," Nighmora passed over his tablet that was connected with the internal network of the Spatial Ark Star World, that showed the information about the Transhuman programs, "the damn program requires adolescent children to go through the changes and more, so it has to be males…
Whoever designed this really had problems with the other gender…" Nighmora found it hard to understand why someone would alienate half of the possible candidates pool just because of gender.
The two continued to talk without noticing the arrival of Esmond and Carter, only stopping once they noticed nobody was talking beside the two of them.
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"Seems like the two of you have already made some insights into the programs already." Esmond smiled while looking over at Nighmora and Arcia, who both seemed petrified by Esmonds sudden appearance.
"S-Sorry My Lord…" Arcia choked up while speaking, however Esmond gently patted his shoulder like it was nothing.
"Please… don't worry about such a thing.
I'm interested in learning about the programs faults and where we can make improvements.
So, everyone… tell me the honest truth of what you've found till now."
"… T-Then I'll begin the explanation." Arcia said while shaking a little before he was able to calm down from the expectations, he'd mentally given himself.
Everyone in the lab took a seat and watched Arcia as he started to address the crowd of scientists.
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"From the small simulations taken of the Transhumans compared to the Clones with all of the augments and serums to improve their bodies to peak level… we found the Transhuman were superior in certain aspects.
While the Super Soldier Serum has allowed the Clones and the chosen elites from the recruits, to be gifted with unbelievable power and mental capabilities, the Transhuman with all of the body transformations could fight on an equal level.
The Transhuman could also fight for a greater period of time based on the changes to their bodies which could be drastically enhanced by the abilities of their Powered Suits.
What I can say is… the creation method of the Transhuman is far to dangerous and worrying in comparison to the current programs we have.
I believe we should continue our study on the Transhuman programs before incorporating them into our Cloning program and the selected elites from the recruits."
Arcia also mentioned his belief that the ones who would go through the body transformation should be allowed to interact with the rest of society so they wouldn't begin to think of themselves as greater beings.
All of the scientists agreed with Arcia as they already believed all creations should be respected as life.
Everyone had gotten to know the Fett Clones and could tell each of the clones was unlike the rest.
They all had their own individuality, even though they were extremely similar.
The Second-Generation Clones that would be morphed between the Fett and Agent 47 template was already known to have a greater level of individuality with the incorporation of the Mutant Code and Super Soldier Serum being introduced into their bodies from birth.
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"… So… what did you find when you merged the technologies of the Transhuman programs with our current Clone program?"
Esmond could tell Arcia was hiding something that yet needed to be discussed because it would be important to know how their clones could perform in the future with all of the changes.
"… I'll just show you My Lord…" Arcia had one of the assistant scientists sitting by the computer display the simulation from within the Virtual Labs.
Watching the closest monitor, Esmond saw a Clone that had the morphed appearance of Fett and Agent 47.
The Clone seemed to be a woman and had no external changes that might seem different from a normal person.
It appeared that the external cord that was supposed to be connected from close to the eyes and all the way back to the spinal cord had disappeared and was incorporated into the body.
Through the process of the cloning creation, their organs would be enhanced and protected by biotechnological nanites that had been synthetically created to properly relate with the body of the Clone.
Because of its organic properties, damaged tissue, muscles, bone, and more much could be easily replaced by the powers of the nanites.
The Clone also seemed to have a Mutant ability that let her connect with electronics and system interfaces without any problem, so long as she trained to improve her skill though.
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